Fan in Felidae
by FreddysNightmare1984
Summary: A teenage girl is a big fan of the Felidae movie. so when she mysteriously ends up in the Felidae universe, she teams up with Francis to try and figure out not only the murder mystery, but the mystery of how and why she is there in the first place
1. What the crap, I'M A CAT!

**HEYO everyone, it's Julia with a new story, and it's all about _FELIDAE!_ i _love_ that movie, although it is pretty creepy and i suggest that you don't watch it if you're under 18, unless you're into horror movies and can handle a lot of gore. and i mean a _LOT_ of gore. anyway, this is my first Felidae fic, and i hope you like it. review please!**

**DISCLAIMER: i _DO NOT_ own Felidae, or any of it's characters. i only own Julia**

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><p>It was your typical day... well, if you were me that is. I went to class, as usual, and then went straight home to study and check Facebook. Exciting, right? Well, that was my life <em>before<em> the incident... the one that changed my life forever.

It started like any other day. When I got home from class I decided to watch one of my favorite movies... Felidae. Sure it was kind of disturbing and the mutilated cat corpses sometimes were hard to watch, but it was still a pretty awesome movie. So I went to my YouTube account and brought up the playlist that had the whole Felidae movie on it. It was 11:30 by the time the movie was over, and I decided to start reading the Felidae book, which had just come in the mail for me a day earlier. I stretched out on my bed and opened to page one. After about 15 minutes, I yawned and I couldn't keep my eyes open another second. I set the book down and turned out the light, hoping that mutilated cats wouldn't plague my dreams.

...

I woke up to the sound of a cat yowling. "Ugh, stupid Charlie" I grumbled. That dang cat always wants out in the middle of the night. I opened my eyes and sat up... and nearly fell over. "_GAH!_" I gripped the side of the roof that I was on... wait, _ROOF?_ How the crap did I get up here? And where the heck was I anyway? I scrambled up onto the roof, my heart hammering in my chest. Wait, something wasn't right... besides that fact that I was on the roof of an unknown building with absolutely no clue how I'd gotten there. I looked down and nearly jumped out of my skin... I had _PAWS!_ Furry, cream colored cat paws! "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?" I yelled, scared out of my mind. What was happening, where was I... why was I a cat? The cat calls grew louder and suddenly a cat popped through a nearby hole in the roof.

He grunted and struggled to get through the hole. There was something familiar about the cat... he suddenly noticed me. "Please, help me!" he sounded desperate. I blinked and that's when I realized... _Francis_, the cat was Francis, from Felidae!

"Holy crap!" I gasped, hurrying over to him.

"Give me your paw!" he yelled. I could hear yowls from the other side of the roof and, if my guess was correct, the Claudandus sect members were after Francis right about now.

_"I must be in the middle of the movie!"_ I thought as I grabbed Francis' paw. I pulled and managed to get him out of the hole.

"Thanks" he panted.

"Uh... n-no problem" I stammered.

He glanced behind him, then turned to me. "_Run!_"

"What, but..."

"No time to explain, just _RUN!_" he tuned and ran. I hesitated a moment, but ran after him just as the other cats burst through the hole, yowling madly. Francis and I were running so fast, I could barely tell where we were going. After running across several more rooftops, we came to one that was familiar.

_"Felicity's house!"_ I thought as Francis skidded to a stop ahead of me. I tried to stop too, but smacked into him and sent the both of us tumbling through a skylight window. "_Oof!_" I landed right on Francis. I gasped and quickly got off of him. "S-Sorry" I stammered.

"It's all right" Francis groaned, standing up.

"You're new in the neighborhood, aren't you?" a soft voice asked. I smiled.

_Felicity!_ She was one of my favorite cats from the movie. Francis and I turned to face her.

"Yes, that's right" Francis said, walking toward her. "The name's Francis. And this... um..." he chuckled, turning to me. "I'm sorry, I never got your name"

I blushed. "Julia... I'm Julia"

"nice to meet you" Francis smiled, then turned back to Felicity.

"Friend or foe?" she asked.

"Friend" Francis and I both said.

"A friend forever" Francis said, walking closer to the chair Felicity was sitting on.

"Friends who fell suddenly, out of the sky" Felicity said.

"Well, not exactly..." Francis started. "Only from the skylight, not from the sky"

I nodded. "Yeah"

Felicity jumped out of the chair and went to the windowsill.

"I was escaping lunatics from the Claudandus sect. they objected to me watching their ceremony" Francis explained.

"that sounds typical of them"

"they're a bunch of jerks" I grumbled.

"Has it gotten light outside yet?" Felicity asked.

Francis nodded, jumping up onto the windowsill beside her. "Yes, but surely you can see that for your..."

"Francis" I jumped up beside him, nodding toward Felicity.

He looked at her and nodded. "Oh... you're blind"

"thank you Captain Obvious" I said, giggling.

"I'm not blind" Felicity said.

"Then what...?"

"I just can't see" she turned and jumped to the floor, going over to sit by the fireplace. Francis and I followed her.

"Do you ever go out?" Francis asked.

"No, though not a day of my life goes by, not one day that... I haven't wished I could see this world, evil and cruel though it is"

"I... I'm sorry" Francis said quietly.

"Me too" I added. "It is wonderful to be able to see, although... some things make me wish I couldn't"

"why are you sorry? There are much worse things in this life" Felicity said. "We could get used to anything...except having to live on a dog kennel, possibly"

the three of us laughed.

"But listen, have you always... I mean..." Francis started.

"Been blind?" Felicity finished.

I nodded. "Uh, yeah"

"yes, from birth"

"bummer" I mumbled.

"But you know what?" Felicity said. "I see pictures, pictures in my mind"

"cool" I said.

"What kind of pictures?" Francis asked.

"I see these people grouped around me, and they're so big... tall and, somehow, bright. One of them bends over me... he smiles, and then he has something that glistens in his hand... then terrible pain... then I fall asleep" she sniffed, as though she were trying not to cry, and ran back to the windowsill. I followed after her, putting my arm around her. Poor, poor Felicity!

"I don't think you were blind from birth" Francis said. "I'd say that some human has done something terrible to you"

I nodded. "Yes, that's what it sounds like to me too"

"but that can't be" Felicity said. "The human race is the kindest there is... who else would give a useless thing like me a home?"

"You're _not_ useless!" I said. "You are kind, beautiful, special... you're _unique_"

"thank you for saying so Julia... you have a kind and gentle heart"

"thanks" I said softly, smiling.

"Uh, can I change the subject and ask you a question, um...?"

Felicity turned to him. "Felicity"

"have you heard anything you'd describe as unusual in the last few weeks?"

"Only the death cries"

"whoa" I shuddered. "_Creepy!_"

"This means you're the first witness I've found to the killings!" Francis said, jumping up onto the windowsill beside Felicity and me.

"I don't see why you're so interested in this"

"Felicity, we're talking about _murder!_" he looked at me. "Julia, you're new around here too, right?"

"Um..." I nodded slowly. "Yes"

"well I might as well tell you that there's a murderer on the loose!"

_"No chiz"_ I thought, but out loud I said, "Really?"

Francis nodded. "Yes" he looked at Felicity.

"Oh, I'm sure you're wrong" Felicity said. "I think it's more likely that it's sex that's just gone too far"

"and why do you think that?" Francis asked.

"The death cries... always uttered by tomcats. I could tell by their growls that they were... excited. Somebody they knew is suddenly there... and although they're excited, they don't attack him"

"and did this someone speak to our excited, expectant brothers?" Francis asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't hear what he was saying to them... but his tone of voice, there was a sense of urgency in his tone, a persuasive conviction... he was trying to tell them something of great importance" I blinked.

"What, though?" Francis pondered out loud. "So, uh... what then?"

"And then... then I'd hear those awful cries"

"do you know anything about the Claudandus sect?" Francis asked.

"Are they a cult or something?" I asked. I figured it would be wise to act as though I had no clue what was going on. How the crap would I be able to explain what I knew anyway?

Francis nodded. "Yes, they're the cats that were chasing us earlier"

"oh"

"I don't know much" Felicity said. "Only that they pray to a dead martyr called Claudandus, a brother who lived around here many years ago and was tortured by men all his life... tormented horribly"

"how do you know that?" I asked.

A squeak form overhead made us jump and look up. Bluebeard was looking down at us from the skylight. "Why did you run off?" he asked, looking at Francis. "The brothers just wanted to talk"

"I'll bet they did, with three hundred volts loosening my tongue, right?" Francis snapped sarcastically. He turned to Felicity. "I'll be back soon, real soon. But right now I've got to get something straight with my _friend_" he jumped up through the skylight, then looked down at me. "Are you coming Julia?"

I hesitated, looking at Felicity. She seemed to sense my hesitation. "Go on little sister... I'll be fine here" she said softly.

I smiled slightly and went to her, nuzzling her. "I'll be back too, I _swear_" I said. I didn't know Felicity very well, although I already cared for her like a sister. And I only hoped that, this time around, she would survive. I jumped up through the skylight and followed after Francis and Bluebeard.

Bluebeard looked at me. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Julia" I said.

"She's with me Bluebeard" Francis said.

"Oh, I see... hoping to get lucky, eh Francis?" Bluebeard chuckled, while I got red in the face.

"You've got some nerve _Buster_, talking about us like that!"

"Relax dollface"

I growled and rolled my eyes.

"Come on you two, let's go back to my place" Francis said. "We can talk more there"

I sighed and nodded, following after the two tomcats. My mind was racing. How had I gotten here? Would I ever see my home again? And perhaps one of the most important questions of all...

_why_ was I here?

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><p><strong>well ,what do you think? i know Julia's not in the story much so far, but she will be, don't worry. review please, and i hope to update soon.<strong>

**-FreddysNightmare1984**


	2. Meeting Pascal

**HEYO ALL! i'm _finally_ updating Fan in Felidae! please excuse the delay, i've just been realy busy, not to mention i've been having computer problems lately. but anywho, i hope you enjoy, and _please_ review**

**DISCLAIMER: i _DO NOT_ own Felidae, or any of it's characters. i only own Julia**

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><p>A little while later I was sitting in Gus' kitchen sink with Francis and Bluebeard, the two of them eating some fish off of a plate. I love fish as much as the next guy, but the sight of the uncooked stuff made my stomach churn. "You were happy enough when I got involved in investigating the murders on the block, and then you go and withhold really important information" Francis was saying as he took a bite of his fish.<p>

Bluebeard grumbled as he took a fish and shoved it in his mouth. "The sect don't mean much" he mumbled through a mouthful of fish. "agh thag mumbah jumbah"

I grinned. "Dude, didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"

Francis chuckled. "What did you say Bluebeard?"

Bluebeard sighed and pulled the fish out of his mouth. "It's a cheap thrill or two, just to see who's chicken and who ain't. It's all bullshit anyway"

Francis chuckled again and shook his head. "That's not what _I'd_ call it"

I nodded. "Me neither… they seemed downright serious"

"the sect's been going for quite a while. Joker teaches the gospel of Claudandus as its high priest, and over the years the blowhard's attracted quite a following. That's all" Bluebeard said.

"_Joker?_" Francis said, sounding surprised. "I take it that Joker is the master of ceremonies with the charm of a viper"

"that's right, but I can promise you it's harmless Francis. No one knows who Claudandus really was or if he even really existed" Bluebeard then went back to devouring the fish. "Can we eat now?"

"Yes, of course Bluebeard" Francis said. "Then maybe we can meet this genius you've told me about"

"as far as humans go, your can opener is a remarkably good cook, absolutely _fantastic!_" Bluebeard said as he was finishing the fish.

Francis turned to me. I knew what he was looking at… the third fish on the plate that had remained untouched the whole time. "Aren't you going to eat?"

I shook my head. "Um, n-no… I'm not hungry" my stomach chose that moment to growl quite loudly.

Bluebeard laughed. "Not hungry my ass!"

Francis picked up the fish and held it out to me. "Go on Julia, eat. I insist"

I swallowed hard. I was pretty hungry, but a _raw fish_? The human part of me was saying 'no way'. But I licked my lips and sighed, finally giving in. "thanks" I said quietly as I took the fish from Francis. I stared at it for a few seconds and realized that Francis and Bluebeard were both staring at me. I blinked. "Do you _mind_? You don't see me staring at _you_ when you eat, do you?"

Bluebeard grinned, amused. "Relax dollface"

I rolled my eyes and hesitantly sank my teeth into the fish. The stench alone was enough to make me not want to eat it, but I didn't want the guys to think I was a weirdo. I tore a small hunk out of the fish and chewed as quickly as possible, swallowing with a shudder.

"Like it?" Francis asked.

I forced a smile and nodded. "Oh yeah, it… it's _great_"

needless to say, I ate my first raw fish that afternoon.

...

I was nervous as we made our way to Pascal's house. "I looked in Gus' dictionary" Francis was saying as we approached the house. "Claudandus is a Latin word meaning, 'he who should or must be sealed'"

"hmm, fascinating" I said.

"What do you think it means?" Francis asked.

"Let me put the ol' thinking cap on" Bluebeard said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh, you _do_ think, do you?" Francis said teasingly.

We snickered.

"I think nonstop, surprises you, eh?" Bluebeard said as we jumped up onto the top of a small stone wall.

I giggled. "Yes, very much so"

Bluebeard laughed. "I even read a book once"

I smiled. _"I think I'm starting to warm up to this guy"_ I thought as we walked along the wall and hopped into a yard. I frowned in disgust as Bluebeard made his mark on the front step of the house.

He grinned when he saw the look on my face. "Ahh, Bluebeard was here" he said.

I rolled my eyes. "_Men_" I grumbled as we made our way inside.

"Very impressive" Francis said, looking around the house.

"Although the pictures of naked people are a bit much" I said flatly, frowning up at the large paintings on the wall. "I mean _really_, who in their right mind would have this kind of stuff in their house? It'd be pretty awkward to have a party in here with guests over"

Bluebeard and I laughed.

Francis glanced up at the paintings. "Have we come to the house of an art collector or a pimp?"

I giggled. "Definitely pimp I'd say"

"well your guess is as good as mine" Bluebeard said. "I believe the can opener who owns this joint has some job as a scientist, or was it a parascicologist, I don't know, what's the difference?" then he headed up some stairs off to the side. Francis and I glanced at each other and followed after him. we came into what looked like some sort of study, with a large painting of Gregor Mendel hanging on the wall.

"Delighted to see you my friends" a voice behind us said, making me jump. We turned and saw a large fluffy cat sitting at a computer. He turned to us. "I hope you enjoyed your tour of the house" he jumped to the floor and walked over to us. He looked even larger in person, but that might have been because of his thick fur.

Bluebeard smiled slightly and nodded toward Francis. "This brother here is Francis and this clever brother here is Pascal" he motioned toward the big cat. Then he looked at me. "And this little sister is Julia"

Pascal and I looked at each other, and the older cat's eyes widened a little. "Oh my" he smiled. "Forgive me my dear, for I am not used to having such… _lovely_ company"

I smiled a little. "Oh, well… thank you"

Pascal looked back and forth between Francis and me. "I'm glad to meet the two of you. I think we'll get along fine" he glanced at me again. "Can I offer you something to eat?"

Bluebeard's eyes lit up.

"Thanks, but we've eaten already Pascal" Francis said politely.

Bluebeard nudged him. "Shut up, will you, Asshole?" he grumbled. "Personally, I can handle a little bit of an extra mouthful or two"

Pascal chuckled. "Well, you know where the kitchen is, you'll find some kidneys in a dish"

Bluebeard scampered down the stairs almost as fast as Speedy Gonzales. I shook my head. "Always thanking with his stomach" I mumbled.

Francis and I then followed Pascal over to the computer. "To tell you the truth, I never thought I'd see one of _us_ sitting at a computer and actually knowing how to use it" Francis said as we jumped up in front of the monitor, somehow with me ending up between Francis and Pascal.

"I'm trying in my feeble way to use the computer to get on the track of the murderer you're out to find"

I smiled. "I love computers"

Pascal turned to me. "You know about computers? Have you ever used one before?"

I nodded. "Oh yes, lots of times"

the older cat smiled, looking impressed. He then turned to the computer and typed something out. "Do either of you know the meaning of this word, Felidae?"

Francis shook his head. "Could it be a scientific name for all our family divisions, _cats _as we're usually called?"

Pascal sighed. "Felidae… evolution has created an astounding number of various creatures, not one however deserves the respect and wonder the genes Felidae has earned" he brought up a list on the computer.

"What is all that?" I asked, even though I already knew.

"Those of us who live in the neighborhood" Pascal said. "Name, age, sex, breed, markings…"he looked at me. "I almost forgot I need to add you two now as well"

"_Incredible_" Francis breathed.

"Yes, it is" Pascal said. "Even better if it could help us solve a murder"

Francis turned to him. "Did you know that all of the dead brothers were…"

"Yes"

I blinked. "Huh?"

"They were all on the prowl after some female in heat" Pascal explained. I jumped, feeling something brush against my tail just then. I turned and saw Pascal's tail brushing against mine. I tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling welling up inside me as Francis continued.

"I have an idea… find out what breed they were, that may lead us to a new tie up"

I smiled. "Great idea Francis"

Pascal nodded. "Simple enough" his tail brushed against mine again as he looked up the victims on the computer. "Well none of them were particularly aristocratic examples of Felidae"

"but all the same race" Francis said. "They weren't just excited and male, they were European Shorthairs"

"weird" I said quietly.

Pascal shook his head. "No, not true Francis…" he started typing something. "… I haven't yet added the sixth victim to the list"

my heart froze at his words. _"No"_ I thought. _"Please God, NO!"_ my heart hammered in my chest as I looked at the word Pascal typed:

Felicity

"_Felicity!_" Francis cried.

"Yes, Felicity I'm afraid" Pascal said quietly.

"Pascal, _no_, that can't be true! Julia and I just left her a hour ago!"

I didn't wait to see if Francis was following, even though I knew he was. I bolted off the desk and out of the house, my heart hammering in my chest 100 miles an hour as I ran. "It can't be true, it _can't_ be!" I yelled as I ran. But I knew, even as Felicity's house came into view, that it was too late…

I had failed to protect my friend.

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><p><strong>OH NO! i <em>hated<em> that Felicity was killed in the movie, THOSE _JERKWADS_! anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chappie, and i'll try to update again soon, hopefully within the next week. oh, and don't forget to review!**

**-FreddysNightmare1984**


	3. Hunting, the tape, and Kong

**WHOOT! i've got another chapter of Fan in Felidae done, and holy crap, this is a _LONG_ one! dang, it took me a couple hours to finish it, as i've had the first bit done for a while. anywho, this chapter contains a lot of added material, i'm surprised that i wrote so much extra stuff. but i hope you enjoy, and please review!**

****DISCLAIMER: i _DO NOT_ own Felidae, or any of it's characters. i only own Julia****

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><p>I didn't even realize I was screaming until I heard Francis yell my name. "Julia!"<p>

I snapped out of it then, my screams ceasing into sobs. We were on the roof of Felicity's house, right outside the skylight. I had looked down through the window, even though I knew what I would see. But I hadn't known that it would be quite that horrific. It had been bad enough seeing it on a computer screen, but seeing it in reality, knowing that it was real now… it was just too grotesque to bear. Her decapitated body, her head on one the side of the rug she was lying on, her body on the other, surrounded by a pool of blood. "Felicity's gone Francis, she's _gone!_" I fell to my stomach, my legs giving way beneath me.

Francis knelt beside me. "There's nothing we could have done…"

"Yes there is, we could have saved her!" I yelled. "I should've stayed here with her, I never should have left her alone!" I moved away from Francis, sniffing as tears blurred my vision. "It should be _me_ down there, not her!"

Francis suddenly got right in my face, looking angry. "Don't say things like that! Listen to you, do you realize what you're saying?"

"Yes of course I do!" I yelled. "And I mean it, it should've been _me!_"

"_No!_" Francis sighed. "Damn it, how do you think Felicity would feel if she heard you saying such things? She wouldn't want you to think like that…" he sighed. "And I don't either" he added softly, placing his paw over mine. "Julia, I _promise you_ we'll find whoever did this, and he will _pay_… with his life, if that's what it takes" I sniffed, blushing as Francis reached out and wiped my tears with his paw. "We're in this _together_, right?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yes Francis" I said quietly. He smiled sadly and put his arm around me, pulling me into a hug. I snuggled into him, thankful that I wasn't going through this alone.

...

"her eyes were wide open as though, even with her last breath, the one thing she longed desperately for was to see"

it was about an hour later, and Francis and I were lying underneath an old dead tree, Bluebeard lounging on the trunk in front of us. "It's sad, but life goes on guys" the old Manx said.

I glared at him. "Easy for _you_ to say Bluebeard, you didn't know her like Francis and I did!"

Francis put his paw over mine, and I sighed, taking a deep breath. "Did you find that cliché in the one and only book you boasted that you'd read, Bluebeard?" he snapped.

The older cat almost looked hurt. "I was just trying to help"

Francis sighed, closing his eyes. "I swear that whoever murdered Felicity is going to pay for it" he stood and looked skyward. "You hear me, you bastard?" he yelled. "I'm going to make you pay!"

I nodded. "I will too, ya hear! I won't rest until we find you!"

Bluebeard decided to join in the threat shouting. "We'll get ya Shithead!"

"Forget what Pascal says" Francis said, going over and jumping up onto a low stone wall. "Felicity was killed because she knew too much"

I nodded, jumping up beside him. "She did seem very knowledgeable"

Francis and I walked together along the wall, Bluebeard trailing behind us. "Was it because she talked to us?" Francis pondered out loud. "If so, it means the murderer was watching our every move. This wasn't just a nutcase, but a cold blooded killer"

I nodded again. "Yes, it certainly seems that way"

Francis sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm exhausted"

I nodded. "Yes, I'm tired too"

Francis turned to me. "Where do you live? We can meet back at my place later"

I blushed, lowering my eyes to the ground. "Well, I… I don't have a home" and I realized in that moment just how scared I was. I had no home, no family… for all I knew, my family back in the real world was worried sick about me. I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I quickly brushed them away.

"You can stay with me for the night if you'd like" Francis said.

I looked up at him. "But Francis, the human that you live with…"

"Gus won't find you, we'll sleep on the bed in the guest room… at least, I _think_ it's the guest room… kind of hard to tell, what with all the renovating still needing to be done" he smiled at me. "Come on Julia, I won't be able to rest knowing that you don't have anywhere to go"

I sighed, hesitating. "Well… all right, if you're sure it's ok"

"it'll be fine" Francis said, and I followed him back to his place. We went in through an old open window and Francis showed me the guest room. He jumped up onto the old mattress. "Come on, it's not much, but it's actually quite comfortable" I hesitated before jumping up onto the bed. I found a spot near one of the pillows and curled up, wrapping my tail around my body as I'd seen other cats do. I was surprised when Francis laid down beside me. I smiled slightly as I closed my eyes. It didn't take long for me to drift off to sleep.

...

_I awoke to the sound of a cat yowling. I blinked and lifted my head. Francis was gone. "Francis?" I called, standing and jumping off the bed. I walked out into the hallway and saw light streaming from one of the rooms. "Hello?" no answer. I slowly walked into the room. I instantly recognized it as the old laboratory where Preterius used to conduct his inhumane experiments. "Is… is someone in here?" I walked further into the room, looking around cautiously. I jumped when I saw movement in the windowsill. I turned and saw a cat sitting in the windowsill, but it wasn't Francis. The cat looked familiar though. He had thick, fluffy orange fur and a few scars on his body. My eyes widened when he turned to me, his golden eyes burning into my brown ones. "Claudandus!" I breathed._

_He smiled slightly at me. "Julia" he said quietly. "How nice it is to see you my dear" he motioned for me to come closer. I slowly walked toward him, my legs trembling. I hesitantly jumped up onto the windowsill beside him. "Oh my" he smiled more. "You're just as lovely as…"_

_"Please stop" I said quietly, tears welling up in my eyes. "Please, don't talk like that"_

_he frowned slightly and sighed. "Oh how I wish things could've been… different" he looked at me. "How I wish you could've known me then, as you see me now"_

_I nodded slowly. "I know you weren't always so evil"_

_a look of pain crossed his face. "When I was Claudandus, I was not the same cat as you know… not the same as Pascal" _

_I nodded. "I know"_

_ he sighed, his long fluffy tail swishing back and forth. "I was driven to madness by man, by Preterius. I thought for so long that he was my master, but…" tears brimmed in his eyes. "… He was only a monster" he looked at me and placed his paw over mine. "You are so gentle and pure… I love that about you"_

_I smiled slightly. "I'm almost sorry that this is a dream"_

_Claudandus nodded slowly, leaning forward and nuzzling me. When he pulled back, I gasped sharply, pulling away from him. His flesh was melting away, falling off in chunks, slipping to the floor with horrible squashing sounds. My stomach churned as I saw what was appearing beneath the peeling flesh… in no time, Pascal stood before me, Claudandus' flesh lying in a pile around him. "We may appear to be one and the same, but we're not" Pascal said, his voice echoing, as though he were far away. "Claudandus is the good half, and I…" Pascal's expression hardened. "I am the half of evil"_

...

I jumped up, my eyes widening and my breathing heavy. "What the crap!" I yelled, jarring Francis awake. He looked freaked out as he woke up. "Francis, I… I'm sorry I woke you…"

"No, don't be" he said, sounding a little relieved. "i… I had a _horrible_ dream"

I nodded. "Me too… I dreamed of Claudandus"

"really?"

I nodded again. "Yes"

"wow" Francis stood, shaking as though he had water all over him. "Come on" he said, jumping off the bed.

I followed. "What are we doing?"

"What I always do when I need to put my mind at ease" Francis turned to me, smiling slightly. "We're going hunting"

...

"Francis, are you _sure_ about this?" I whispered. We were both hunched down, watching a small group of rats scurry about in the attic.

"Yes, I'm sure" he turned to me. "Don't tell me you've never hunted before"

I blushed. "Uh… I've never hunted before" I said, smiling weakly.

Francis blinked, looking surprised. "Oh. Well you're in luck"

I smirked. "Oh really?"

"Really. You are in the presence of a rat hunting _expert_"

I giggled. "Oh my, how exciting!" we both laughed quietly.

"All right, the first thing you have to do is be very _very_ quiet" Francis said, lowering his voice to such a whisper that I had to strain slightly to hear him.

I nodded slowly. "Okay"

"second, you have to remember that rats are_ fast_, as fast as lightning it seems sometimes"

I nodded again. "Okay"

"you got that?"

I chuckled. "Yeah Francis, I got it"

"okay… pick your target"

I scanned the area and my eyes locked on a fat, grey rat, one of the larger ones. Francis followed my gaze. "Jules, don't you want to try something a little…?"

"No way, that one's _mine!_" I whispered, smirking again.

Francis nodded. "All right, go for it!"

I took a deep breath and slowly slunk forward, careful to be as quiet as possible. My eyes stayed on the old rat. _"I am **not** going to embarrass myself in front of Francis!"_ I thought. Unfortunately as I was thinking that, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I stepped out where the rats could see me. They instantly scurried off in all directions. "_GAH!_ Oh darn it!" I said, growling as I leaped forward, trying my best to keep up with the grey rat. I almost had him… and slid to a stop to avoid crashing into the wall. But it was too late, my nose smacked the wall hard, while the rat scampered into a hole in the wall right at my feet. "ow" I groaned, rubbing my nose with my paw.

Francis walked over. "A-Are you o-ok?" I could tell he was trying not to burst out laughing.

I glared at him. "Hey, it was my first time hunting! Give me a break"

Francis chuckled. "You were keeping up with him pretty well… I'd say that you would've caught him if that wall hadn't been in your way"

I smiled a little. "You think?"

Francis nodded. "Yeah, I do" he chuckled again, reaching out and playfully batting my cheek with his paw. I giggled and crouched down, wiggled my butt, and pounced… only for Francis to leap gracefully out of my way. We started chasing each other, laughing loudly. I noticed an old pile of junk in the corner and ran for it. Francis was right behind me. I heard him hit something and I jumped as a static-like noise blared out of nowhere. Francis and I stopped and turned. Francis had run into an old VCR player and had accidently turned it on.

"Smooth move Frankie" I said, smirking.

"_Frankie?_" Francis swatted at me, but I giggled and ducked down. A few seconds later, a video started playing on the TV that the VCR was hooked up to.

"Given funding that will support the project for a year…" a voice was saying. "… This lab is my dream. My assistants are Ziebold and Gray" Francis and I looked at each other before we jumped up in front of the TV. The video was showing men working in a lab, which looked like a room in Gus' house. "I know that my tissue bonding glue will revolutionize medical science" the man, whom I knew to be Preterius, took a grey cat and strapped it down to an operating table. My eyes widened as one of his assistants took a scalpel and slit a small cut into the back of the cat's head where a patch of fur had been shaved off. Then Preterius used a dropper and put some sort of chemical onto the wound. "The first experiment had failed. Instead of bonding the edges of the wound together, the mixture etched its way through the skull to the brain. I can only conclude that the acid solution must be diluted further" the video showed two more shocking, inhumane experiments, which I could hardly watch. "It simply defies logic" then suddenly I saw a cat that looked familiar.

I nudged Francis. "He's the one I saw in my dream!" I whispered. Francis looked intrigued, but we both continued to watch the tape.

"This morning, a strappy young stray found his way to the lab. We've made him our mascot" the tape suddenly jumped to what appeared to be several months later, as Preterius and Ziebold were experimenting on the fluffy orange cat. "so many experiments, so many _failures_" Preterius was saying. "Now we have only our nameless mascot as a subject" Preterius took a drink from a wine bottle, nearly dropping it in shock as he looked at the cat's wound. "A _miracle!_ I applied the mixture and it _worked!_ It seems that our stray has performed an incalculable service to medical science!" Preterius said, picking up the cat and putting him in a cage. "I have named our successful subject Claudandus! And he will go down…" the tape jumped suddenly to the scientists surrounding Claudandus, who was strapped to the operating table. "We've had to perform a dissection on Claudandus. Some factor in his genetic makeup enables him, unlike the other subjects, to absorb the mixture without ill effects… he must be a mutant" the tape jumped once more, showing the lab in a state of disarray. "Our funding has been cut by a third!" Preterius slurred, obviously very drunk. "But I am Professor Preterius! A shortage of experimental animal…" he chuckled slightly. "… No problem!" the tape then jumped again. "_Sacrifice!_ Scientific progress demands _sacrifice!_" the tape jumped for the final time. "Thanks to my ingenious breeding program, some of the females have produced kittens! Thus, ensuring a supply of subjects for the future" Preterius approached Claudandus' cage. "I wonder if you're still capable of producing offspring Claudandus! Suddenly, I have a vision of a new, entirely unique, _extraordinary_ race of cats! A _super_ race!"

Francis and I looked at each other in horror. He slowly stood and turned the VCR off. I felt tears sting my eyes. _"No wonder Claudandus did what he did"_ I thought._ "No wonder he's so lost"_ Francis and I looked at each other again, our good mood from before wearing off instantly.

"_ARGH!_"

I jumped when I heard something behind us. Francis and I turned and saw Kong, Hermann, and Hermann climb in through a window. "Oh snap" I mumbled.

Kong crushed a rat beneath his huge paw, laughing. He looked at Francis. "Hello, I promised you that we'd have another get together in the not too distant future…" he stopped as our eyes met. "Well now, where'd you find this sweet little thing?"

I growled, backing up slowly. "Back off _Jerkwad_" I snapped.

Kong roared with laughter. "Feisty, eh? I like that in a woman…"

"_Eww!_" I said. "Dude, get your mind out of the gutter!"

by then, Francis and I were slowly circling around Kong and his thugs. "We'd love to stand around and chat, but we've got more important things to do" Francis said.

Kong smirked. "Well, you're gonna squeeze me into your busy schedule"

"Kong, don't you think we should talk seriously about what's important?" Francis asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, like, gee, I don't know… THE PSYCHOPATHIC _MURDERER_ THAT'S ON THE LOOSE!"

"Excuse me, so you've got something serious on your mind?"

"He means the _MURDERS_, YOU _IDIOT!_" I yelled. "God, are you _really_ as slow as you look?"

Kong glared at me. "I'd watch my mouth of I were you Sweet Thing"

I rolled my eyes.

"We need your help to find the crazy man who's killing all our brothers" Francis said to Kong. By then, the ridiculously large cat had us backed up against the wall. He laughed. "_Ha!_ You've already found him Cutie"

I snickered. _"What is he, Bi?"_ I thought to myself.

Francis gasped. "_You!_ But Kong, why _you?_"

I nodded. "Yeah, I hate to admit it, but that makes no sense"

"_Why?_" Kong laughed. "Well let's just say that, like you two, they didn't show me respect"

"I'm not denying you're a tough guy, but your motive doesn't convince me" Francis said.

I shook my head. "Me neither"

"oh, then let's see if I _can_ convince you in some way"

Hermann and Hermann cackled like the typical evil henchman.

I snickered, looking up at them. "Let me guess, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber, right? Or maybe Tweedle Ugly and Tweedle Uglier?"

Hermann and Hermann growled, glaring down at me.

Francis glanced up at the twin cats, then looked back at Kong. "Is this fair?"

Kong laughed. "_Fair?_ Hell no!" Hermann and Hermann cackled again. Then Kong leaped at Francis and me. We jumped out of the way, and ran up an old pile of books and to a window… that was covered with thick mesh.

"Crap, we're trapped!" I said as Kong, Hermann, and Hermann came up behind us.

"Leave him to me!" Kong said, smirking at me. "We'll save the little lady for later"

"_Hey!_" I snapped, glaring at him.

Hermann and Hermann leaped at Francis just then. He jumped up and slashed at them. I felt a little nauseous at the sight of blood, but everything was happening so fast, I barely had time to register anything.

"Julia, come on!" Francis said, leaping over Kong.

I smirked. "See ya later you Butt-faced_ freak!_" I said, leaping over Kong and following Francis. Kong was right behind us and pounced on Francis, grabbing him by the back and picking him up in his teeth. I gasped. No one was going to mess with Francis as long as I could help it! "Hey, leave him alone!" I tackled Kong, biting him on the neck as hard as I could. I startled him, making him drop Francis before he could do any damage. I looked up and saw a window. "Francis, this way!" I yelled. We both ran for the window, Kong and the two dumb bells right behind us. We leaped up and Francis managed to claw his way outside. _"Almost there…!"_ I thought as my claws dug into the windowsill. I felt something grab my leg just then. I turned and saw Kong, his paw grasping me.

"Julia!" Francis said, leaning down and swiping Kong in the face with his claws. Kong yowled, letting go of me. Francis then grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and pulled me out the window.

"th-thanks" I stammered as we ran.

Francis smiled slightly. "No problem"

a rumble of thunder made me jump, and a heavy rain started pouring down. "Oh great, I forgot about the rain" I grumbled as Francis and I leaped up over a stone wall. We stopped and turned just as Kong and the two Hermanns were scrambling over the wall after us. We jumped over a few more walls and ran across the rooftop of an old building before landing with a thud into a large, unkempt yard with overgrown weeds and dying grass. There was yet another low wall up ahead, but the two dunderheads were sitting on top of it, smirking at us. Francis and I jumped up and crashed right into them, sending the four of us over the wall and into a small fountain. Francis and I scrambled out of there and ran. _"Oh crap"_ I thought, remembering what was waiting for us up ahead. We scaled two more small walls before we came to it. Francis cried out in surprise and I screamed as the dead cat lay before us, her throat torn and her torso gutted like a fish, her unborn kittens strewn around her bloody body. My legs trembled and gave way beneath me. the last thing I heard was Francis calling my name…

and then the world faded into darkness…

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><p><strong>well, how was that one? man, my fingers are about to fall off from all the typing! hopefully i'll have the next chapter up soon, so be on the lookout for it! and don't forget to review!<strong>

**-FreddysNightmare1984**


	4. Jesaja

**Well, here's the next chapter of Fan in Felidae. I hope you enjoy it!**

****DISCLAIMER: i _DO NOT_ own Felidae, or any of it's characters. i only own Julia****

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><p>"Julia? Julia"<p>

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.

I could hear Francis' voice. "Julia, can you hear me?"

I groaned again and sat up. I blinked, shaking my head. "What…?" I started, then I laid eyes on the body again. A wave of nausea hit me and I felt like I was going to throw up. "How l-long was I out?" I asked, tearing my eyes away from the body and turning to Francis.

"Only a few seconds…" Francis was saying before Kong and the two stooges appeared behind us.

"Looks like they've run out of steam suddenly. That's what happens to ya if you eat too much junk food" Kong said, looking amused.

_"he's not going to be so high and mighty for long"_ I thought, tears welling up in my eyes as swallowed hard and turned back to the cat I knew to be Solitaire.

Francis turned to them. "Yeah, we're out of breath, and it looks as though we're not the only ones"

Kong growled and jumped off the wall, slowly approaching us. "What bullshit you taking now?" suddenly he gasped, seeing the body behind us. "_Solitaire!_" he ran over to her. "Oh _Solitaire!_" he pushed Francis and me out of the way. "What have they done to you! What the hell has that evil bastard done! My lovely, lovely Solitaire!" he started crying, hovering over her body.

I frowned. Even though Kong was a bully, it made my heat ache to see him this way. _"He must really love her"_ I thought.

"Who was she?" Francis asked the Hermanns.

"Solitaire was the bosses' favorite girl. And the chances are that they're his family you can see as well"

_"he means the kittens"_ I thought. Those poor, dear little things. They never had a chance to be born, to have a life. I hesitated before I slowly approached Kong. He eyed me angrily, so I slowly sat a few feet away.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Kong roared. "I'm gonna _hamburger_ him! I'll tear his balls off and stuff them down his throat! I'll, I'll…!" he started to hyperventilate a bit. "What kind of heartless bastard would do this! _WHO?_ _WHO?_ Tell me!" he grabbed Francis. "Was it you?" he immediately dropped him, turning and packing back and forth. "no, not you, you didn't have the time, and neither did your little girlfriend!" I blushed. "But then who did it, _who was it!_" he started crying again. I couldn't help myself. I hesitantly reached over and placed my paw over his. He looked at me, obviously surprised. He looked like he wanted to say something when the bushes behind us rustled. An elderly cat ran out of the bushes and behind a tree. Kong glared at him, growling. "You're gonna _die!_" he roared.

"No Kong, wait!" Francis said. "Maybe he…!" but the old cat didn't stick around to hear any more. He jumped up onto the wall and scrambled over the other side. Kong, Hermann, and Hermann immediately ran after him. Francis and I looked at each other before we followed after them. We all ended up on the wall, with me between Kong and Francis.

"Got any idea where that gutless sadist is Smartass?" Kong asked, turning to Francis.

"I don't even know the way back to _my_ place with all this coming down"

"he's got to be up ahead boss, but only three backyards left till we hit the highway" one of the Hermanns said. The two imbeciles then jumped down from the wall.

"That's where we'll get him!"

"Yeah, yeah, _YEAH!_" Kong roared. "So let's go!" he jumped to the ground and ran off with the Hermanns.

"See ya!" Francis called.

"Yeah, and be careful!" I added. "They may be jerks, but that doesn't mean I ant anything bad to happen to them" Francis nodded. We sat in silence on the wall, letting the rain pour down on us. Usually I hated being out in the rain, but at the moment I could've cared less. "I hope we can stop this madness soon" I said quietly.

Francis placed his paw over mine. We smiled slightly at each other when Francis caught sight of something. "Look" he whispered. I followed his gaze to the old cat, whose name I couldn't quite remember, slowly slipped through a drain in the wall, probably heading into the sewers. "Come on, let's follow him" Francis said. I nodded and we jumped down from the wall and slipped into the drain.

"Ugh, this is so _gross!_" I said, wincing at the wet, squishy ground beneath our paws. We walked along for a few more feet before Francis stopped. I nearly ran into him, since he was in front of me. "What is it?" I whispered. Before Francis could answer, the ground gave way beneath us and we fell down a dark hole. We screamed all the way down, and finally landed in a dark tunnel.

Francis sat up, looking over at me. I'd landed on my back next to him. "You ok?" he asked.

I nodded, rolling onto my stomach and standing up. "Yeah, I'm ok. But my heart sure is racing!"

Francis nodded. "Mine too" he looked around. Then suddenly we heard something else falling down into the tunnel.

"Oh, now what?" I groaned, even though I knew who it was before we could even see him. Bluebeard tumbled head over tail into the cave, landing on his chin in front of us.

Francis looked surprised. "I'm not sorry to see you, though I hate to admit it"

Bluebeard grumbled, standing up. "Damn it, I'm getting too old for this bullshit"

"not so loud" Francis said quietly.

"Not so loud, what difference does it make with our friend Kong wailing like a banshee in delirium. I saw the lovely Solitaire and followed you over the walls. Where are we now?"

I shrugged. "I don't have a clue"

"I don't know either" Francis said as we ventured deeper and deeper into the tunnel. Francis gasped when we finally came to an opening surrounded by cat skeletons.

"Eww, gross" I said, frowning.

"Catacombs" Francis said quietly.

"If that's a joke…" Bluebeard started. I rolled my eyes as we went toward the light at the end of the tunnel. "Get an eyeful of that" Bluebeard said.

"Unfortunately, I am" I said, shivering at the sight. We had come into a large cavern that was littered with hundreds and thousands of cat skeletons. "This is so creepy" I mumbled.

"A mass grave" Bluebeard commented. "What do you make of it?"

Francis sniffed the air. "Smell that?"

Bluebeard and I sniffed.

"Yeah, _disgusting_" Bluebeard grumbled.

I nodded. "Yeah, it smells worse then a backed up sewer!"

"The smell of rotting flesh" Francis said as we walked into the cavern. I looked around, keeping an eye out for the old cat… _Jesaja_, that was his name! I'd just remembered. "Kong was right" Francis said. "The old codger _is_ the killer"

"But no sign of Sasha down here" Bluebeard said, referring to the very first cat he and Francis had discovered not long before I showed up. "No sign of Deep Purple or Felicity either" I shuddered at the thought of my lovely friend. Francis suddenly seemed very interested in something among the bodies. A loud clattering noise made us both jump and turn around. Bluebeard had knocked over a few bones, including a skull. When Bluebeard looked at us, he growled, baring his fangs. Francis and I slowly turned and came face to face with Jesaja, who was only inches away from us. I screamed and Francis hissed, both of us jumping back toward Bluebeard.

Jesaja lifted his paw over his face, as if to shield himself. "Do not attack the guardian of the dead" he said. "Although, the guardian has sinned in breaking the holy rule. He knows that he must pay dearly" he hunched down, still holding his paw over his head.

"Do you always give your victims this shit before sinking your teeth in?" Francis demanded. "What's your name my _friend?_" he sneered the last word.

"My name is Jesaja"

"And is all this _your_ work?" Bluebeard asked. "I mean, this skeleton cupboard. Did you kill them all and drag them down here?"

Jesaja shook his head, sitting up. "No, it wasn't me. The dead come down to me. They are sent by the prophet"

"A real nutcase if you ask me" Bluebeard mumbled to me and Francis.

"Tell us where you're from Jesaja" Francis said. "And how you've come to be in this gruesome place?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't think anyone would come down here by choice"

"Once there was a suffering dreamland… I was born there. It was a place of sorrow until the prophet came among us and brought us salvation" he picked up the skeletal remains that Bluebeard had knocked over and put them back together, setting the completed skeleton back up amongst the others. "And God heard the pleading of the prophet… he sent down the day with his blinding light. The bright day destroyed the land of illusion, and then we who had suffered fled blindly into the world"

"What happened to the prophet?" Francis asked.

"He was taken to Heaven, Father Joker told me all this"

"_What?_" Francis said, shocked. "The leader of the Claudandus sect?"

"This temple had been his home for years when he rescued me in my need. He brought me here and cared for me. But then, the day came when Joker had to leave me…. to spread the prophet's message throughout the world"

"And how did Joker account for the collection of bones he so _lovingly_ gathered down here?" Francis asked sarcastically. By then, Jesaja had made his way deeper down into a lower section of the cavern, and Francis jumped down to him.

"He didn't. When Father Joker and I lived here together, it wasn't graveyard you see now. One day, however, quite soon after Father Joker had left me, I heard frightening, mysterious sounds in the tunnel. Terrified, I made my way to the entrance, and, to my horror, I was confronted by a dead sister lying there. All at once I heard the voice of the lord from on high…"

"And what did the lord say?" Francis asked, not sounding too convinced by Jesaja's story.

"He said I had been chosen to be the guardian of the dead. And must never again return to the world of light. But now everything has changed, for I haven't heard the prophet's voice for a long time. Nor does he send the dead to their kingdom. I have been forsaken" he frowned, bowing his head in disappointment.

"And is that the reason you surfaced tonight, to find new dead bodies?" Francis asked.

Jesaja nodded.

"Can you tell me something about the victims? I mean, were they… sisters and brothers who'd been…" Francis hesitated. "… sexually excited?"

"That was often the case my friend" Jesaja said. "But others horribly mutilated also came to the temple"

"Were there any that were pregnant?" I asked.

"Many… oh yes, _many_" Jesaja said, sounding almost shameful. He sniffed a few times, looking as though he might cry.

...

Francis, Bluebeard, and I left a little while later. "Boy, am I glad to be out of there!" I said, shivering.

Francis nodded. "Yes, me too"

"Cod filets natural, cod filets _boiled_…" Bluebeard was mumbling a he plodded along behind us. "… Cod filets lightly grilled, basted in butter… ahh, or cooled with mayo…"

"Dude, _shut up_, you're making me hungry!" I snapped, nearly running into Francis when he stopped.

"Can't you think of anything besides _food_ Bluebeard?" Francis asked, irritated. "Don't you see what we've discovered?"

"Ahh, sure Smartass"

"It isn't _seven_ murders we have to deal with, it's _hundreds!_ These murders started many, many years ago. It may go right back to the closing of a certain laboratory"

"No kidding" Bluebeard said with a hint of sarcasm.

"You made a very important observation down in the hellhole" Francis continued.

"No kidding?" Bluebeard said again, sounding surprised and somewhat pleased with himself.

"Why weren't the bodies of Sasha, Deep Purple, Solitaire, and…" he hesitated, glancing at me before continuing. "… Felicity down there with the rest of them?"

"Because I think the murderer's as tired of the whole damn thing as me!" Bluebeard said, flopping down on the wall. "All I want is a hot meal beside a warm fire. What I want is _Codfish!_" at that moment, Bluebeard slid right off the wall and to the ground.

I looked at him like O.O

"I'm hungry, I'm tired, i want cod filets with butter and mayo!" Francis said in a mocking tone. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at that. "It's only Joker who knows anything about the prophet Claudandus, right? Why does it have to be this good preacher who likes the collar turned up? What was it you said, it was just killing time, a bit of fun?"

Bluebeard nodded. "Yeah, something like that"

Francis walked down a nearby pile of logs down to where Bluebeard was lounging on the grass. I followed after him. "you guys, I'm beginning to think that this sect has a very specific purpose. As though they're preparing for the arrival of something that we can barely begin to imagine"

"Something like a fresh piece of fish?"

I groaned, facepalming. "_No_ Bluebeard, get your mind out of the kitchen for just _one second!_"

Francis sighed. "Look, I'm going home to get some rest" he looked at me. "Are you coming Julia, or have you found somewhere else to sleep?"

I chuckled. "I've been with you all day"

Francis smiled a little. "Come on then, let's go home"

I nodded. "See ya Bluebeard"

"Yeah, bye Julia"

I smiled at him before following Francis back toward his place. I stopped, turning when a funny feeling suddenly came over me. "Julia, what is it?" Francis asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure… for a second, it felt as though someone was watching me"

"Well there's no one around except you and me… but try not to get too far away, just in case"

I nodded. "No problem there" I mumbled. We got to Gus' place a few minutes later and hopped in through a window. We went to Gus' study this time, and I followed Francis up onto the desk.

"We can rest here a while" Francis said. "Maybe our dreams can tell us something, like before"

I nodded. "Yeah, maybe"

Francis smiled a little. "Have a little faith Julia. This nightmare will be over with soon enough"

I sighed and nodded. "I hope so" I sighed, laying my chin on my paws. I wanted so badly to tell Francis what I knew. But I wasn't sure how that would affect the future. I wanted to tell him what I knew, I wanted _so badly_ for this all to be over. But then again, he would probably want to know how I knew what I knew, and how the heck was I supposed to explain it? 'Oh, where I come from, this whole universe is only a movie and I already know what's going to happen because I watch the movie all the time'… yeah, I didn't think a conversation like that would go very well. I groaned, covering my face with my paws. I could only hope that everything would keep happening as it had in the movie. Then there might still be a chance that this horror fest would end.

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><p><strong>Well, how was it? I hope you enjoyed it, and <em>please<em> review! reviews are awesome! hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon for ya XD**

**-FreddysNightmare1984**


	5. Delving deeper

**OMG, I'M ACTUALLY UPDATING! _YES_, its true! lol, anywho... _SO SORRY_ for the wait folks! i truly didn't mean for it to be this long, i just got kinda lazy and had a lot of stuff on my mind (still do actually). but fear not, i _will_ finish this fanfic! i hope you enjoy :D**

****DISCLAIMER: i _DO NOT_ own Felidae, or any of it's characters. i only own Julia****

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><p><em>Clouds. Lots and lots of clouds. That's the first thing I noticed when I woke up. "Why is it so foggy?" I thought, standing up and looking around. There were what appeared to be Egyptian relics on either side of me, huge, towering statues of their gods. "Weird" I said out loud as I walked. <em>

_"Julia?" _

_I jumped and turned. "Franics!" _

_the grey tom was standing behind me. "What's going on here?" he asked, falling in step beside me. _

_"Heck if I know" I said. "But I think we're dreaming" _

_"The same dream at the same time?" Francis asked, sounding skeptical. _

_"I know it sounds nuts, but why else would we be here? We're obviously not awake and…" _

_suddenly Francis nudged me, nodding toward something ahead of us. I looked and my eyes widened. A golden cat was sitting atop one of the statues, his back to us. And beneath the statue were our friends (and enemies): Kong, Bluebeard, Joker, even our dear friend Felicity. The stunning golden cat turned to face us then, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. Francis smiled a bit. "We've been searching for you" _

_"yes, of course. Clever Francis… you too Julia, **very** clever for such a young female" _

_I blushed a bit. _

_"… I'm the prophet, I'm the human" the golden cat continued. "… I'm the beast. And I am also… Felidae. Come with us Francis, Julia… all that has been, all there will be has no meaning anymore. Come with us…" _

_"Come with us" the others joined in, speaking as one in an eerie monotone sort of way. "Wherever you go, you'll find something preferable to tell…" they all suddenly started to shrink down into tiny glowing orbs, like stars, and they shot up into the sky and descended into the darkness. _

_"Come with us on our long, wonderful journey" Felidae said before he too shrank down into a star and floated away with the others. _

_"What will we find when we arrive?" I felt the clouds beneath me sinking as their voices blended together. "… everything that we've lost…" _

I awoke with a start. "Whoa" I blinked and glanced beside me.

Francis was just waking up. He opened his big green eyes and lifted hid head, turning to me. "d-did you dream that… that we were in…"

"…the clouds" we both said.

"Yes"

"And Felidae…" Francis breathed.

"He was there" I said, nodding.

"Wow" Francis said, sitting up. "I guess we really _did_ have the same dream"

"yeah" I said, sitting up beside him. "That's so weird"

we looked at each other.

"Francis" a soft voice called.

I stiffened. _"Oh no"_ I thought. _"Not **her**, not **now**!"_ Francis' eyes bugged out of his head a bit, and he hurried over to the window. I sighed and moved to stand beside him. _"Nhozemphtekh"_ I thought bitterly. Why did she have to show up? I shook my head. _"This is the way it's supposed to happen"_ I thought to myself.

"Francis" she called again. Without even saying anything to me, Francis was out the window and outside.

I sighed and sat on the windowsill, glaring after him. "I guess I'll just stay here then" I mumbled, my tail twitching stiffly. I groaned and jumped down from the window back into the room. _"Why is this bothering me so much?"_ I thought to myself. "_after all, I should be happy, right? So far, things are pretty much going the way they're supposed to"_ I sighed and laid down, resting my chin on my paws. I felt so disgusted and… no, no I couldn't _possibly_ be… I shook my head. "No, I am _not_ jealous!" I said out loud, sighing. "I can't be, I'm not _supposed_ to be!" I sat up, restless. I wondered how far along Francis and Nhozemphtekh's conversation had gone. "That's it!" I said, getting up. I couldn't stand it anymore, it was driving me crazy. I jumped out the window and around the corner, toward the yard where I knew Francis and Nhozemphtekh were. As soon as I turned the corner, I was surprised. No, scratch that, I was _shocked_. Francis was sitting down a few feet from the beautiful cat, just talking to her! That was it. I felt utterly confused as I approached them.

"Well well, who do we have here?" Nhozemphtekh asked, rolling onto her back.

I narrowed my eyes at her as Francis turned to me. "Julia, what are you…?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alright" I said stiffly.

"Is this your mate Francis?" Nhozemphtekh asked.

I felt my face heating up. "I am _not_ his mate!" I snapped before Francis could say anything. "we're just friends"

"oh, I see" she said slowly, looking slightly relieved. I narrowed my eyes at her again, feeling my fur stand on end.

Francis seemed to notice my tension, because he quickly stood up. "Well thank you for your time" he told Nhozemphtekh. "but we must be going now" he turned and started to walk off.

"Bye Francis" Nhozemphtekh called softly. I rolled my eyes as I followed Francis back to the house.

"Julia, what's the matter?" Francis asked as I hopped up onto the windowsill of the bathroom. I didn't say anything as I jumped down to the floor and got in the dingy tub. I just wanted to be alone, but I should've known better then to assume that Francis would leave me alone like I wanted.

"Please go away" I grumbled when he leaned over the edge of the tub, looking down at me.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong…"

"Why are you even here?" I asked, looking up at him. "why aren't you out with _her?_" I was surprised at how mean I sounded, but right then I didn't care.

"Who, that female?"

"_Yes!_" I sighed.

"Wait, are you…?" Francis blinked, smirking a bit. "you're jealous, aren't you?"

"I most certainly am _not!_" I snapped. "I'm not jealous of _her!_" I hesitated. "well, maybe in _some_ ways… after all, she's the most beautiful female around. And I'm, well I'm just…" I sighed. "… I'm just _me_"

"So?" Francis got down into the tub beside me. "I happen to like 'just you'"

I turned to him. "Yes, but not the way you like her"

"How do you know that?"

I felt my heart beating faster as I curled up, facing away from him. "I'm tired" I said softly, even though I was actually wide awake. But I did _not_ want to keep up the conversation.

"But…" Francis sighed. "we should rest for a while then" I felt his back press up slightly against mine, and I felt tears in my eyes. No matter what my feelings for Francis were, I knew nothing was ever going to change.

...

I awoke to the sound of someone laughing. I groaned and opened my eyes, lifting my head to see Bluebeard sitting in the windowsill. "Hello Julia" he said, smirking a bit. "hope I wasn't interrupting anything" he laughed, and I was about to ask what the heck he was talking about when I remembered that Francis and I had fallen asleep in the filthy bathtub.

I sighed and sat up, stretching. I climbed out of the tub and jumped up onto the windowsill beside him. "So I take it you told him?" Bluebeard said.

I blinked. "Told him what?"

"Don't give me that bullshit, you know exactly _what_"

I felt my face heating up and was about to say something when Francis woke up just then. "Oh, hello Bluebeard" he said, standing up and stretching.

"I saw your little encounter with the new girl today" Bluebeard said, laughing. I felt my eyes widen. He _did_ mate with her, just like I knew he would! I felt the fur on the back of my neck stand up.

"All we did was talk Bluebeard" Francis grumbled as he stretched again. "and I have a feeling that she can help solve the case"

Bluebeard blinked. "You feel what? the case? _Solve it?_ Don't kid me, you're still interested" he jumped down into the room.

I followed. "I know _I_ am" I said.

"Well then, let's go to work" Francis said, getting out of the tub. "right, now where can we find Joker?"

Bluebeard turned to him. "He's at home I'd think, getting ready for his next Bible class"

"where does Joker live now?" I asked.

"A couple of blocks from here. His can opener runs a store which sells china and hand blown glassware"

"okay" Francis said. "First I want to talk to Pascal again"

_"oh great"_ I thought sarcastically.

"while I do that, you go and find Joker and tell him that Pascal and I want to talk to him about the murders"

Bluebeard's eyes widened a bit. "Wow, do you _seriously_ think that Joker's the killer…?"

"Don't forget the story Jesaja told us, Joker is deep, and I mean _very_ deep in this. The question is if I can pin it on him. And by the way, that lady I spoke to earlier, she was a female belonging to a breed that I've never come across before, sandy fur with blazing yellow eyes and she was sort of…"

"… Wild" Bluebeard finished. "I know the kind"

"Are there lots like her?" I asked.

"They sure are" Bluebeard said as he jumped back up into the sill. "the house and garden set take them in as designer pets, and I tell you, if we all watch out, they'll be taking over the whole district. still, by making them household members, the can openers have screwed themselves"

"what's that supposed to mean?" Francis asked.

"They're not the same as we are" Bluebeard said. "in lots of ways. But the main thing I've noticed that makes them different is that the normal, healthy way to domestication that we've got ain't in them somehow. And instead, this new breed are wilder, walk alone. In a word, they're…"

"What?" I asked when Bluebeard didn't finish.

"Unfriendly?" Francis guessed.

"_Dangerous_" Bluebeard said. Francis and I got up in the windowsill beside him, then the three of us made our way outside. I looked up for a moment as snow started lightly falling to the ground. Without saying anything, Bluebeard headed to Joker's place, while I followed Francis toward Pascal's.

"So we're not going to talk about earlier?" Francis asked as we approached the house.

"_No_" I said stiffly, a nervous feeling creeping up inside me as we slipped inside through the small cat door. We found Pascal in the living room, sitting in a chair.

"Oh, congratulations" he said when we told him everything that had happened. "I've lived in this neighborhood for years and haven't recorded a fraction of the albeit horrific information you've managed to unearth in the short time you've been here, well done, both of you"

"have you got data on brothers and sister who, for some reason or other, have left the neighborhood?" Francis asked.

"Of course"

"well let's take a look at the lists, and we should be able to find out who exactly has disappeared without a logical explanation and when. And I wonder why the murderer is suddenly leaving victims outside the temple instead of sending them to Jesaja?"

"yes, that's a very good point" Pascal said, standing and stretching. "as it shows the murderer is beginning to make mistakes we may be able to exploit" he got down from the chair and headed for the stairs, moving to sit at the top one.

"I hope you're right" Francis said as we followed after Pascal. "but I find it hard to imagine that this master of horror could make mistakes"

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean, whoever he is has been pretty crafty so far"

"perhaps he's sending us a message" Pascal guessed.

"That's what I was thinking" Francis said.

"Good, good" Pascal said, sounding impressed. "but what is it he's trying to tell us?"

"He wants us to know he's got power of life and death…"

"The general intelligence level of the area is so abysmally low…" Pascal interrupted. "… the brothers couldn't interpret his subtly expressed message anyway"

I couldn't help but agree. "Yes, many of the others around here don't seem to be very, well… smart"

"well supposing, uh… say he only wants one special brother to understand what his mission is" Francis said.

"_excellent_" Pascal said.

"Why?" Francis asked.

"Because for the first time, you're thinking in terms of a mission. Haven't you got it yet? He wants his motives to be known and understood, he's as complicated as a crossword puzzle" he moved to sit on the chair on a big, fluffy pillow. "no, the killer _is_ the puzzle and he wants us to solve it"

"Joker, he _has_ to be our key suspect" Francis said.

"Possibly" Pascal said thoughtfully. I sighed as I rolled over onto my side on the floor where I was lying beside Francis. "something wrong my dear?" Pascal asked.

I sat up, trying to act cool, although my back was starting to get sore from lying on the hard floor. "This, the floor I mean, it's… it's a bit uncomfortable"

"why don't you come up here with me?"

I swallowed hard. That was exactly the offer I was afraid he'd make. "Uh…" I sighed and hesitantly jumped up onto the chair, settling down beside him.

Pascal smiled a bit as he continued with his theory. "… now then, what if Joker witnessed the carnage Preterius created and saw it as a chance to build a religion on Claudandus' martyrdom to which he'd lead…"

"Sounds right" Francis said, nodding.

"Now tell me more about the lady you had the pleasure of meeting this morning" Pascal said.

"Well she's…" Francis hesitated. "… she's quite a _unique_ young lady"

"I'm sure she's not as lovely as _you_" Pascal said, turning to me.

I couldn't help but blush a bit. "th-thank you for saying so, but she's _much_ more lovely then me. She's everything a tom could want in a mate"

"a product of Professor Preterius' species engineering?" Pascal guessed.

"Why not?" Francis said, shrugging.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure. You're forgetting evolution" Pascal continued. "a new breed could emerge quite by chance sometimes"

"is that so?" Francis asked.

Pascal nodded.

"then you're saying that that wild lady and any others like her are actually the result of natural selection. sounds logical, I admit"

"And more probable" Pascal added. He looked back and forth between Francis and me. "you two are quite intelligent creatures" I smiled a bit. Even though I knew what Pascal was, I couldn't help but feel a bit flattered by the way he treated me.

"You clowns mind if I b-b-butt in?" Bluebeard stammered, shivering from the cold, snow covering his whole back.

I giggled. "Been out building snowmen Bluebeard?"

he grumbled to himself, rolling his eyes as he shook snow from his fur.

"Where's Joker?" Francis asked.

"He's g-gone" Bluebeard stammered, still shivering.

"You mean he's disappeared?"

"That's what I said baby"

"perhaps you'd like to eat something before you carry on" Pascal said to Bluebeard. "My owner, Ziebold, left some freshly cooked liver in my dish"

Bluebeard's eyes lit up. "Ooh I _love_ fresh liver!"

"Get back to the point" Francis said.

Bluebeard nodded. "I looked inside the house Joker lives in, and it's a mess. But still I went through it, bottom to the top, and I found no sign of him"

Francis looked surprised. "So Joker's been murdered…"

"No" Pascal interrupted. "maybe he just realized you were close to catching him, so he ran"

Francis shook his head. "I really can't agree there, I can't believe that a maniac like that would just run away…"

"Hold on, hold on" Pascal said. "tomorrow we'll go back to the computer and try to identify any possible survivors who were subjected to Professor Preterius' experiments"

"uh, good idea" I said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"I'm glad you think so" Pascal looked pleased, as though he wanted me to be impressed.

"We'll come back first thing tomorrow" Francis said as he got up to leave.

I nodded and sat up, stretching. As much as I hated being so close to Pascal, I'd gotten pretty warm and comfy on that pillow. "goodnight Julia" the older cat said.

"Goodnight Pascal" I said. He leaned over and nuzzled my cheek before I jumped to the floor and followed after Francis and Bluebeard.

...

"You've got to watch your tail a little more carefully, both of you. Or you'll get hurt" Bluebeard said as the three of us ventured out into the snow.

"What do you mean?" Francis asked.

"think about it, the killer ain't gonna be pleased with you two on his trail. And might try to do something about you"

"yeah" Francis said thoughtfully. "and Pascal as well. He knows even more then us"

A shiver ran down my spine. "Are you sure about this Bluebeard?"

"_Absolutely_ Dollface. And don't you two worry about Pascal. If what you've found out about the murders is right, he just kills the brothers who've got balls. Good ol' Pascal had 'em cut off years ago, and besides, he isn't gonna be around that much longer"

"why's that?" I asked.

"He's got stomach cancer. They've given him six months. It's only recently the news got around the neighborhood" Bluebeard said, turning and walking off.

Francis and I just sat there in the snow, each in our own thoughts. I had completely forgotten about Pascal's illness. I couldn't help but feel bad for him, even though I knew I didn't have to. I had every right to hate him, to despise him, and part of me did. But part of me also pitied him, pitied the poor creature he used to be who had been transformed into a twisted monster.

* * *

><p><strong>well, i <em>FINALLY<em> updated this story like i've been wanting to! how was it? i'm considering writing a sequel once i finish this one. i know that there are already multiple sequels to the Felidae books, but i don't plan on reading any of them since only the first and second books are available in English, which is the only language i speak. i think that sucks dude, why don't they just print _ALL_ the books in English instead of just the first two? oh well, now i'm ranting. i hope you enjoyed this next chapter and i'm going to try and update again soon. _PLEASE_ review!**

**-FreddysNightmare1984**


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